Thursday, March 28
Los Angeles, CA
7:00 PM
UCLA
vs
Oregon
Maya Brady
Photo by: Marie Goldfarb
No. 14 UCLA Hosts No. 24 Oregon for Three Games
March 27, 2024 | Softball
LOS ANGELES โ The No. 14 UCLA softball team opens a three-game series versus No. 24 Oregon at Easton Stadium this week. The Bruins (18-8, 4-2 Pac-12) begin the series with the Ducks (20-10, 7-2 Pac-12) Thursday, March 28 at 7 p.m. (PT). All three games are available for viewing on the Pac-12 Networks.
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Thursday marks Kelly Inouye-Perez's 1,000th game as UCLA's head coach.
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Quick Hits
ยท UCLA is 18-8 on the season and 4-2 in Pac-12 play with a series sweep over Utah.
ยท UCLA went 11-6 in its "tournament season" schedule, including ranked wins over Florida State, Northwestern and Tennessee.
ยท RS Sr. Maya Brady leads UCLA with a .405 average, 33 runs batted in, 25 runs scored and an .810 slugging percentage.
ยท RS Sr. Sharlize Palacios is tied with Brady for the team-lead in home runs with eight.
ยท Brady moved into third on UCLA's career home runs list (62) with two homers in game three at No. 8 Washington last week.
ยท Fr. Kaitlyn Terry is coming off back-to-back Pac-12 Freshman of the Week honors after shutting out the Huskies in game three.
ยท Terry leads UCLA with a perfect 9-0 record and a 2.07 earned run average.
ยท Kelly Inouye-Perez is seven wins away from 800 in her head coaching career.
ยท So. Taylor Tinsley has started the most games in the circle for UCLA (13) and has recorded a 6-7 record and 2.60 ERA.
ยท The Bruins were picked to finish second in the final Pac-12 Preseason Coaches Poll (did not receive a first-place vote).
ยท UCLA won its 12th Pac-12 regular-season championship in 2023 with a 21-3 record (17th overall conference title).
ยท Four Bruins were named to the USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year Top 50 Watch List: Maya Brady, Sharlize Palacios, Megan Grant and Jordan Woolery.
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Last Week
UCLA salvaged its series at then-No. 8 Washington last week (March 22-24) with a 6-0 shutout victory in game three. The Bruins had the game-tying run reach scoring position in each of their first two losses of the series.
Game One (L, 5-6): Game one featured late-game dramatics courtesy of Brady. UCLA entered the seventh trailing Washington, 6-4. After a sacrifice fly by Jadelyn Allchin scored Thessa Malau'ulu, Brady reached base on a two-out infield single after initially being ruled out. That was the first of two replay reviews that overturned the game's final out. The second was on a steal of third base by Brady who was initially ruled out on the tag. A strikeout to Megan Grant ended the game.
Game Two (L, 4-6): The Bruins put forth a late-game charge again on Saturday with four runs in the final two innings. Four walks and a wild pitch by Washington reliever Ruby Meylan helped score three runs in the seventh inning and pushed the game-tying run to second base. A chopper off the bat of Janelle Meoño to third base ended the game.
Game Three (W, 6-0): Terry tossed a two-hit shutout and allowed just three base runners in game three. The performance marked Terry's fourth complete-game shutout of the season. UCLA homered three times in the game, including two off the bat of Brady, marking the eighth multi-homer performance of her career. Jordan Woolery also homered.
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Terry Again Named Pac-12 Freshman of the Week
For the second week in a row, left-handed pitcher Kaitlyn Terry has been named the Pac-12 Freshman of the Week. Terry put forth her most dominant outing of the season with a complete-game shutout in game three at Washington last Sunday. She needed just 81 pitches, limiting the Huskies to two hits and a walk. Terry's performance marked the first shutout by a UCLA freshman versus a top-10 opponent since April 7, 2017, when Rachel Garcia shutout then-No. 1 Oregon. Terry retired the last 11 Huskies of the game and flashed the leather in the fourth inning, starting a 1-6-3 double play. Including her relief outing in game one, Terry allowed just one earned run over 12.1 innings in the series.
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Brady Heating Up
Maya Brady is building up her Player of the Year candidacy again in 2024. Over the last 10 games, Brady has homered four times and drove in a team-high 16 RBI with a .464 batting average. In game three at Washington last Sunday, Brady recorded her second two-homer game of the season and eighth of her career. Brady now leads the Pac-12 with an .810 slugging percentage on the season. The shortstop has shored up on the defensive side of the ball as well with just one error in the month of March (14 games). 2024 marks Brady's second season as UCLA's starting shortstop. She took over the role full-time on March 3, 2023 after Seneca Curo sustained a season-ending injury. She has started at shortstop in 74 career games.
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In 2023, Brady was named the Pac-12 Player of the Year and a USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year Top 3 Finalist in addition to being a consensus First Team All-American. Brady led UCLA with a .448 average, 18 home runs, 59 RBI, 63 runs scored, 33 extra-base hits and 149 total bases last season.
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Brady in the Record Books
Career Home Runs: Brady's two homers at Washington on March 24 moved her into sole possession of third place on UCLA's all-time home runs list with 62, passing Tairia Mims (2000-03) and Delaney Spaulding (2014-17). Brady needs five home runs to pass Stephany LaRosa (2012-15) with 66 career home runs.
Career Two-Homer Games: Brady's two homers against the Huskies on March 24 marked the eighth multi-homer game of her career which is the third most by a Bruin in UCLA history. She moved out of a tie with LaRosa and B.B. Batesย (2010-13) with seven. Andrea Harrison (2009-12) ranks second in UCLA history with nine multi-homer games while Stacey Nuveman is first with 12.
Career RBI: Brady became the seventh Bruin to reach 200 career RBI with her grand slam in the second inning of UCLA's 12-1 victory over Utah on March 10. Brady is up to 211 RBI in her career and needs three more to surpass Aaliyah Jordan (2018-23) for fifth UCLA's all-time list.
Career Runs Scored: Brady's four runs scored last week at Washington improved her career total to 195, passing Kylee Perez (2015-18) for sole possession of fifth on UCLA's all-time list. Brady needs five more runs to pass Katie Schroeder (2008-12) for fourth.
Career Slugging Percentage: Brady's .750 career slugging percentage currently ranks third all-time in UCLA history. In second is LaRosa's .755 career mark.
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Palacios Power
Redshirt senior catcher Sharlize Palacios is enjoying her best season yet in Westwood with eight home runs, 23 RBI and a .776 slugging percentage. In Palacios' last three home games at Easton โ a contest versus Rutgers and double-header versus LMU โ she went a perfect 5-for-5 at the plate with a grand slam, earning her Pac-12 Player of the Week honors for the first time in her career. Palacios homered in game one of UCLA's series at Washington last week. Defensively, behind the dish, Palacios has yet to commit an error and has thrown out five runners attempting to steal. Her most recent victim was in game three at Washington on March 24 in a strike-em-out, throw-em-out double play.
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In the Polls
ยท UCLA enters the week ranked in both major polls. The Bruins check in at No. 15 in the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) Poll and No. 13 in the ESPN/USA Softball Poll.
ยท In addition, the Bruins have been slotted in the No. 2 spot in the final Pac-12 Preseason Coaches Poll, as announced by the conference office on Feb. 1. Stanford was selected as the league's preseason favorite, garnering seven of nine first-place votes. Washington and Utah each received one first-place vote.
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Coach I Nearing 800 Wins
Head coach Kelly Inouye-Perez owns a 793-205-1 record and is seven wins away from win No. 800 in her career. Inouye-Perez would join UCLA Athletic Hall of Famers and her two predecessors Sharron Backus and Sue Enquist in the 800 win club. Enquist leads UCLA's triad of head coaches with 887 career head coaching wins while Backus owns 854 such wins. Inouye-Perez was coached by both Backus and Enquist in her time as a catcher on the Bruins' roster from 1989-93 and later coached alongside Backus and Enquist as an assistant upon graduating.
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Other Standout Terry Performances
Kaitlyn Terry struck out a career-high 12 batters in her complete-game shutout over Weber State at the Judi Garman Classic on March 2. The 12 strikeouts are tied with Megan Faraimo (2019) and Rachel Garcia (2017) for the most by a Bruins' freshman over the last 15 years. Donna Kerr was the last UCLA freshman to rack up 12+ strikeouts, recording 15 in a win over Northwestern on March 9, 2008.
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Oregon Series History
UCLA leads the all-time series with Oregon, 94-31, dating back to 1985. The Bruins are 40-13 when playing at home against the Ducks. UCLA has won four straight series against Oregon (dropped two out of three on the road in 2018). Inouye-Perez is 36-19 against Oregon in her tenure as head coach (since 2007).
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The Bruins took two out of three in last season's series at Oregon. After being shutout by Ducks' starting pitcher Morgan Scott in game one, UCLA took games two and three by scores of 7-4 and 6-2, respectively. Four Bruins hit home runs in the last two games, including one each from Brady, Palacios and Woolery. Brady went 4-for-9 with three runs scored in the series. Tinsley was called upon in relief in the series finale and registered 2.0 scoreless innings and a strikeout.
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Malau'ulu Producing at the Bottom of the Lineup
Senior infielder Thessa Malau'ulu is enjoying the best season of her career in 2024. After missing the entirety of the 2023 season due to injury, Malau'ulu has produced at the bottom of the Bruins' lineup with a .354 batting average and five doubles. She also sports a .458 on-base percentage, which is good for third on the team behind Meoño and Brady.
In her last 10 games: Malau'ulu has hit for a .438 average (7-for-16) and scored seven runs.
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Notes on Tinsley
Sophomore Taylor Tinsley has shown consistent improvement since week one of the 2024 season in her new role as UCLA's ace. This season, Tinsley owns a 2.60 ERA and 88 strikeouts over 78.0 innings pitched after totaling just 57.1 innings of work all last season in her All-Pac-12 Freshman Team campaign. Tinsley was named Pac-12 Pitcher of the Week for the first time in her career on Feb. 26 following her performances at the Mary Nutter Classic.
at the Mary Nutter: Tinsley allowed just two earned runs across three complete-game performances and 22.0 total innings pitched at the Mary Nutter. Among all the pitchers competing at the Mary Nutter (30 teams participating), Tinsley ranked first in innings pitched (22.0) and strikeouts looking (10) and tied for first in strikeouts (30).
vs. Utah: Tinsley picked up two wins, struck out 16 batters and did not allow an earned run over 10.2 innings to help the Bruins to a series sweep of Utah (March 8-10). In her game one victory, Tinsley threw 6.2 innings of shutout ball and allowed only one base runner into scoring position. She finished her outing with nine strikeouts and surrendered just two hits. She limited the Pac-12 batting average leader entering the series, Haley Denning, to 0-for-6 with two Ks.
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Notable Trends
Walk-Offs: UCLA has three walk-off wins in the seventh inning through 26 games this season.
Coming From Behind: UCLA's opponents have scored first in 15 of its 26 games this season. The Bruins own an 8-7 record in those games. In 2023, UCLA's opponents scored first in only 13 of its 59 total games. Additionally, UCLA's opponents have scored in the first inning 11 times this season compared to last season in which opponents scored in the first inning only eight times in 59 total games.
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Allchin: Clutch Gene
ยท Allchin, a graduate transfer from Washington (2020-23), has provided clutch hits for the Bruins. In the fifth inning or later this season, Allchin is batting for a .464 average (13-for-28) with nine RBI and 11 runs scored. On March 12 versus Rutgers, Allchin delivered a walk-off single. Three days prior to that, Allchin played the hero in game two of UCLA's home series with Utah by knocking in the game-tying run with two outs in the seventh inning. At the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic, Allchin doubled in a run to spark a five-run seventh inning to help UCLA walk-off on Nebraska on Feb. 23.
ยท Allchin has been a mainstay in the top half of the Bruins' lineup the last month. She ranks third on the team with five multi-RBI games this season. In 2024, she is hitting for a .288 average with three home runs and 17 RBI. Defensively, Allchin has recorded two outfield assists this season: one from left field in the Bruins' 6-2 win over Tennessee on Feb. 25. and one from center field against Oklahoma State on Feb. 11. She has totaled five outfield assists in her career.
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Thursday marks Kelly Inouye-Perez's 1,000th game as UCLA's head coach.
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Quick Hits
ยท UCLA is 18-8 on the season and 4-2 in Pac-12 play with a series sweep over Utah.
ยท UCLA went 11-6 in its "tournament season" schedule, including ranked wins over Florida State, Northwestern and Tennessee.
ยท RS Sr. Maya Brady leads UCLA with a .405 average, 33 runs batted in, 25 runs scored and an .810 slugging percentage.
ยท RS Sr. Sharlize Palacios is tied with Brady for the team-lead in home runs with eight.
ยท Brady moved into third on UCLA's career home runs list (62) with two homers in game three at No. 8 Washington last week.
ยท Fr. Kaitlyn Terry is coming off back-to-back Pac-12 Freshman of the Week honors after shutting out the Huskies in game three.
ยท Terry leads UCLA with a perfect 9-0 record and a 2.07 earned run average.
ยท Kelly Inouye-Perez is seven wins away from 800 in her head coaching career.
ยท So. Taylor Tinsley has started the most games in the circle for UCLA (13) and has recorded a 6-7 record and 2.60 ERA.
ยท The Bruins were picked to finish second in the final Pac-12 Preseason Coaches Poll (did not receive a first-place vote).
ยท UCLA won its 12th Pac-12 regular-season championship in 2023 with a 21-3 record (17th overall conference title).
ยท Four Bruins were named to the USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year Top 50 Watch List: Maya Brady, Sharlize Palacios, Megan Grant and Jordan Woolery.
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Last Week
UCLA salvaged its series at then-No. 8 Washington last week (March 22-24) with a 6-0 shutout victory in game three. The Bruins had the game-tying run reach scoring position in each of their first two losses of the series.
Game One (L, 5-6): Game one featured late-game dramatics courtesy of Brady. UCLA entered the seventh trailing Washington, 6-4. After a sacrifice fly by Jadelyn Allchin scored Thessa Malau'ulu, Brady reached base on a two-out infield single after initially being ruled out. That was the first of two replay reviews that overturned the game's final out. The second was on a steal of third base by Brady who was initially ruled out on the tag. A strikeout to Megan Grant ended the game.
Game Two (L, 4-6): The Bruins put forth a late-game charge again on Saturday with four runs in the final two innings. Four walks and a wild pitch by Washington reliever Ruby Meylan helped score three runs in the seventh inning and pushed the game-tying run to second base. A chopper off the bat of Janelle Meoño to third base ended the game.
Game Three (W, 6-0): Terry tossed a two-hit shutout and allowed just three base runners in game three. The performance marked Terry's fourth complete-game shutout of the season. UCLA homered three times in the game, including two off the bat of Brady, marking the eighth multi-homer performance of her career. Jordan Woolery also homered.
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Terry Again Named Pac-12 Freshman of the Week
For the second week in a row, left-handed pitcher Kaitlyn Terry has been named the Pac-12 Freshman of the Week. Terry put forth her most dominant outing of the season with a complete-game shutout in game three at Washington last Sunday. She needed just 81 pitches, limiting the Huskies to two hits and a walk. Terry's performance marked the first shutout by a UCLA freshman versus a top-10 opponent since April 7, 2017, when Rachel Garcia shutout then-No. 1 Oregon. Terry retired the last 11 Huskies of the game and flashed the leather in the fourth inning, starting a 1-6-3 double play. Including her relief outing in game one, Terry allowed just one earned run over 12.1 innings in the series.
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Brady Heating Up
Maya Brady is building up her Player of the Year candidacy again in 2024. Over the last 10 games, Brady has homered four times and drove in a team-high 16 RBI with a .464 batting average. In game three at Washington last Sunday, Brady recorded her second two-homer game of the season and eighth of her career. Brady now leads the Pac-12 with an .810 slugging percentage on the season. The shortstop has shored up on the defensive side of the ball as well with just one error in the month of March (14 games). 2024 marks Brady's second season as UCLA's starting shortstop. She took over the role full-time on March 3, 2023 after Seneca Curo sustained a season-ending injury. She has started at shortstop in 74 career games.
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In 2023, Brady was named the Pac-12 Player of the Year and a USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year Top 3 Finalist in addition to being a consensus First Team All-American. Brady led UCLA with a .448 average, 18 home runs, 59 RBI, 63 runs scored, 33 extra-base hits and 149 total bases last season.
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Brady in the Record Books
Career Home Runs: Brady's two homers at Washington on March 24 moved her into sole possession of third place on UCLA's all-time home runs list with 62, passing Tairia Mims (2000-03) and Delaney Spaulding (2014-17). Brady needs five home runs to pass Stephany LaRosa (2012-15) with 66 career home runs.
Career Two-Homer Games: Brady's two homers against the Huskies on March 24 marked the eighth multi-homer game of her career which is the third most by a Bruin in UCLA history. She moved out of a tie with LaRosa and B.B. Batesย (2010-13) with seven. Andrea Harrison (2009-12) ranks second in UCLA history with nine multi-homer games while Stacey Nuveman is first with 12.
Career RBI: Brady became the seventh Bruin to reach 200 career RBI with her grand slam in the second inning of UCLA's 12-1 victory over Utah on March 10. Brady is up to 211 RBI in her career and needs three more to surpass Aaliyah Jordan (2018-23) for fifth UCLA's all-time list.
Career Runs Scored: Brady's four runs scored last week at Washington improved her career total to 195, passing Kylee Perez (2015-18) for sole possession of fifth on UCLA's all-time list. Brady needs five more runs to pass Katie Schroeder (2008-12) for fourth.
Career Slugging Percentage: Brady's .750 career slugging percentage currently ranks third all-time in UCLA history. In second is LaRosa's .755 career mark.
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Palacios Power
Redshirt senior catcher Sharlize Palacios is enjoying her best season yet in Westwood with eight home runs, 23 RBI and a .776 slugging percentage. In Palacios' last three home games at Easton โ a contest versus Rutgers and double-header versus LMU โ she went a perfect 5-for-5 at the plate with a grand slam, earning her Pac-12 Player of the Week honors for the first time in her career. Palacios homered in game one of UCLA's series at Washington last week. Defensively, behind the dish, Palacios has yet to commit an error and has thrown out five runners attempting to steal. Her most recent victim was in game three at Washington on March 24 in a strike-em-out, throw-em-out double play.
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In the Polls
ยท UCLA enters the week ranked in both major polls. The Bruins check in at No. 15 in the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) Poll and No. 13 in the ESPN/USA Softball Poll.
ยท In addition, the Bruins have been slotted in the No. 2 spot in the final Pac-12 Preseason Coaches Poll, as announced by the conference office on Feb. 1. Stanford was selected as the league's preseason favorite, garnering seven of nine first-place votes. Washington and Utah each received one first-place vote.
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Coach I Nearing 800 Wins
Head coach Kelly Inouye-Perez owns a 793-205-1 record and is seven wins away from win No. 800 in her career. Inouye-Perez would join UCLA Athletic Hall of Famers and her two predecessors Sharron Backus and Sue Enquist in the 800 win club. Enquist leads UCLA's triad of head coaches with 887 career head coaching wins while Backus owns 854 such wins. Inouye-Perez was coached by both Backus and Enquist in her time as a catcher on the Bruins' roster from 1989-93 and later coached alongside Backus and Enquist as an assistant upon graduating.
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Other Standout Terry Performances
Kaitlyn Terry struck out a career-high 12 batters in her complete-game shutout over Weber State at the Judi Garman Classic on March 2. The 12 strikeouts are tied with Megan Faraimo (2019) and Rachel Garcia (2017) for the most by a Bruins' freshman over the last 15 years. Donna Kerr was the last UCLA freshman to rack up 12+ strikeouts, recording 15 in a win over Northwestern on March 9, 2008.
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Oregon Series History
UCLA leads the all-time series with Oregon, 94-31, dating back to 1985. The Bruins are 40-13 when playing at home against the Ducks. UCLA has won four straight series against Oregon (dropped two out of three on the road in 2018). Inouye-Perez is 36-19 against Oregon in her tenure as head coach (since 2007).
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The Bruins took two out of three in last season's series at Oregon. After being shutout by Ducks' starting pitcher Morgan Scott in game one, UCLA took games two and three by scores of 7-4 and 6-2, respectively. Four Bruins hit home runs in the last two games, including one each from Brady, Palacios and Woolery. Brady went 4-for-9 with three runs scored in the series. Tinsley was called upon in relief in the series finale and registered 2.0 scoreless innings and a strikeout.
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Malau'ulu Producing at the Bottom of the Lineup
Senior infielder Thessa Malau'ulu is enjoying the best season of her career in 2024. After missing the entirety of the 2023 season due to injury, Malau'ulu has produced at the bottom of the Bruins' lineup with a .354 batting average and five doubles. She also sports a .458 on-base percentage, which is good for third on the team behind Meoño and Brady.
In her last 10 games: Malau'ulu has hit for a .438 average (7-for-16) and scored seven runs.
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Notes on Tinsley
Sophomore Taylor Tinsley has shown consistent improvement since week one of the 2024 season in her new role as UCLA's ace. This season, Tinsley owns a 2.60 ERA and 88 strikeouts over 78.0 innings pitched after totaling just 57.1 innings of work all last season in her All-Pac-12 Freshman Team campaign. Tinsley was named Pac-12 Pitcher of the Week for the first time in her career on Feb. 26 following her performances at the Mary Nutter Classic.
at the Mary Nutter: Tinsley allowed just two earned runs across three complete-game performances and 22.0 total innings pitched at the Mary Nutter. Among all the pitchers competing at the Mary Nutter (30 teams participating), Tinsley ranked first in innings pitched (22.0) and strikeouts looking (10) and tied for first in strikeouts (30).
vs. Utah: Tinsley picked up two wins, struck out 16 batters and did not allow an earned run over 10.2 innings to help the Bruins to a series sweep of Utah (March 8-10). In her game one victory, Tinsley threw 6.2 innings of shutout ball and allowed only one base runner into scoring position. She finished her outing with nine strikeouts and surrendered just two hits. She limited the Pac-12 batting average leader entering the series, Haley Denning, to 0-for-6 with two Ks.
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Notable Trends
Walk-Offs: UCLA has three walk-off wins in the seventh inning through 26 games this season.
Coming From Behind: UCLA's opponents have scored first in 15 of its 26 games this season. The Bruins own an 8-7 record in those games. In 2023, UCLA's opponents scored first in only 13 of its 59 total games. Additionally, UCLA's opponents have scored in the first inning 11 times this season compared to last season in which opponents scored in the first inning only eight times in 59 total games.
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Allchin: Clutch Gene
ยท Allchin, a graduate transfer from Washington (2020-23), has provided clutch hits for the Bruins. In the fifth inning or later this season, Allchin is batting for a .464 average (13-for-28) with nine RBI and 11 runs scored. On March 12 versus Rutgers, Allchin delivered a walk-off single. Three days prior to that, Allchin played the hero in game two of UCLA's home series with Utah by knocking in the game-tying run with two outs in the seventh inning. At the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic, Allchin doubled in a run to spark a five-run seventh inning to help UCLA walk-off on Nebraska on Feb. 23.
ยท Allchin has been a mainstay in the top half of the Bruins' lineup the last month. She ranks third on the team with five multi-RBI games this season. In 2024, she is hitting for a .288 average with three home runs and 17 RBI. Defensively, Allchin has recorded two outfield assists this season: one from left field in the Bruins' 6-2 win over Tennessee on Feb. 25. and one from center field against Oklahoma State on Feb. 11. She has totaled five outfield assists in her career.
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Players Mentioned
OF
/ Softball
SS
/ Softball
INF
/ Softball
P/1B
/ Softball
UTIL
/ Softball
OF
/ Softball
UTIL
/ Softball
OF
/ Softball
C
/ Softball
P/OF
/ Softball
P
/ Softball
INF
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